The Lion King and Swahili

I can vividly recall my brother's obsession with The Lion King in the early nineties. I really didn’t care much. I was much more focused on trying to watch Pocahontas. It’s funny how history can haunt you and you can turn into that person. Here I am, over twenty years later obsessed with The Lion King. I watched it in 3D in 2019 and will watch it again sometime this week. On top of that, I flew all the way to New York one weekend to watch it on Broadway. I am glad I went in 2019 before public gatherings became a thing of the past.

On another note, The Lion King never gets old and it has timeless lessons. It’s my all-time favorite Disney movie. Why? I am glad you asked. My first language growing up in South Carolina was English. I later picked up Swahili as a five-year-old and that’s where the magic began! My family and I moved back to Tanzania in 1995 at the height of The Lion King’s popularity. I was a couple of weeks shy of turning five and I honestly thought Tanzania or Africa would be full of scenes from The Lion King. Well, I was wrong hahaha. That’s a story for a whole other day. In the meantime, I am going to share some possibly unknown facts about The Lion King and Swahili.

One, Two, Three!!! Here we go:

1. SIMBA

Simba actually means lion in Swahili. Guess what! You have been speaking Swahili fluently throughout the years. You actually know the name of one animal in Swahili. Impressive! Pat yourself on the back!

2. RAFIKI

Rafiki means friend in Swahili. There we go again! This was a fitting name for Rafiki because he was that golden friend to Simba and his crew. Try saying, Hey Rafiki!, when you run into one of your best friends. Best friends? Yeah, you can have more than one best friend. Clearly, Simba proved that with all the friendships he successfully managed.

3. PUMBAA

I think they shortened a Swahili word. The word I am referring to is Pumbavu. It means foolish in Swahili. Hmmm…so can we all agree that that the name was fitting? Huh? Why did they do this to my friend, Pumbaa? He didn't deserve such a name! (Holds back a tear or two)

4. SHENZI

I think most of you have caught on by now. You may have already guessed the meaning of Shenzi. Shenzi means stupid or savage in Swahili. Think about that hyena. I guess Shenzi lived up to her name. With that in mind, you better not let anyone call you Shenzi or Pumbavu in Swahili. And, think twice before naming your child after them. Thank me later 😉! I know what you might also be thinking but we won't go there today.

5. HAKUNA MATATA

This is my absolute favorite Swahili phrase from The Lion King. Hakuna means no, nothing, none, or not in Swahili. Matata can mean problem, issue, worry, or challenge. I actually have a mug on my desk with the words, Hakuna Matata! I use the mug to keep my pens and pencils. Why is my mug doing a whole other job? I need something positive and visually appealing to help me power through this new normal. I need to remember this because it's so much easier to worry about the safety and health of my loved ones, racism, economic woes, and more.

6. ASANTE SANA

Do you remember the song Rafiki was singing? He used the words, Asante Sana and threw in some bananas! Well, Asante means Thank you in Swahili and Sana means very much or a lot. Look at your Swahili vocabulary expanding by the minute! You got this! Try texting someone thank you very much in Swahili and let me know how it goes.

On that note, A BIG round of APPLAUSE to all the people who have to deal with the gung-ho Lion King fans like me!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS for sticking around and discovering that you know more than one Swahili word. You actually know about EIGHT Swahili words! That's a good start! By the way, Swahili is growing in popularity and is spoken by millions of people in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, and more. I hope that by now, you are thoroughly impressed by your Swahili skills. Thank you for attending my TED talk!